New Editor-in-ChiefJournal of Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST)

June 17, 2008

Dr. Blaise Cronin has been selected to be the new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), effective January 1, 2009. Dr. Cronin succeeds Dr. Donald Kraft who has been editor since 1985 and has now retired from Louisiana State University. Dr. Cronin is Rudy Professor of Information Science and Dean of the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University and has been Editor of ASIS&T’s
Annual Review of Information Science and Technology since Volume 36 (2002).

Describing his vision of JASIST, Dr. Cronin said,” JASIST is the preeminent journal of its kind in the world, and the enduring record of our field’s intellectual focus and evolution. Under Don Kraft’s editorship
JASIST has flourished, growing in terms of size, number of annual issues and breadth of subject coverage. The institutional, geographic and disciplinary affiliations of contributing authors are more varied than ever, reflecting the internationalizing of interest in information science and also the perceived attractiveness of
JASIST as a publication outlet of first, not last, resort. In short, the maturation of our field, both scholastically and professionally, is mirrored in the pages of the journal. The challenge is to maintain a balance between the known and the novel, the canonical and the emergent; the goal is to enlarge the journal’s footprint, prudently and selectively, by connecting more tightly with cognate academic communities where the study of information is also a central intellectual concern.”

In announcing the selection, ASIS&T President Nancy Roderer said, “It is a wonderful indication of the depth and vitality of ASIS&T that we have one Award of Merit Winner as editor followed by another winner of our highest honor. ASIS&T is fortunate indeed to have two such outstanding individuals leading the profession and ASIS&T as information science becomes more and more important.”

Because the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology has a very long lead time before appearing in print, Dr. Cronin will continue for the interim to edit both ARIST and
JASIST until a new ARIST editor is selected.